Improvement in steam-cars



nENRY F. KNMP, on Nnw Yonx, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT :N STEAM-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,833, dated July 23,1872.

' Specification describing certain new and useful Improvements inSteam-Gars for Street y Railroads and other purposes, the invention ofcounty, and

the body of the car, a perfect combustion, of the fuel is attained, thesmoke is consumed or absorbed, the spent steam diffused or preventedfrom escaping in clouds orpuffs to the atmosphere, and great safetywith'efciency generally is obtained. l I

In the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification,Figure l represents a longitudinal sectional elevation of astreetrailroad car with the invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is Va planof the truck portion of the y car with its propelling mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts inboth f1gures of the drawing.

A is the bodyof, the car, which may be of ordinary construction, andwhich rests,`by springs a` a, `on the truck B. v This truck is providedwithfour or morerunning-wheels, C (l D D, tworonly, CC, of `which maybedrivers;` or the severalwheels may be coupled, as deu sired.Saidtruckcarries the boiler and entire mechanism by` which the car ispropelled. It is mainly composed of an iron frame of suit able shape andstrength for carrying said devices and the superincumbent load. E is theboiler, arranged at one end of the truck, and

which is of an elliptical shape in its transverse section. F3 is thenre-box, with ash-pit com` bined. This re-box,which may be of an ovalshape, and be fitted so as to be removable when required, is arrangednear the outer end `of the boiler,the same projecting up'within thelatter from below, and so that the water in the boiler mainly surroundsit. Said fire- `box increases -in height or ,depth toward its back b,and. is in open communication at its front with a fuel hopperor.reservoir, Gr, for `keeping up an automatic supply of fuel, which willbe sufficient tocontinue the running of the cara given time or`distance. The heat and products of combustion are rst caused to impingeupon a crown-sheet and sides Vof a fire-chamber, c, Withinvthe boiler,and then to pass off over the back b of the fire-box, and down to` andalong smoke-dues d, passing through the water-space of the boiler andconnecting with a smoke-box, II, at the inner end of the boiler. The dipof the draught over the back of the re-box gives additional combustionroom to the furnace, and protects the flues from lling up with'coal,room being necessarily restricted bythe limited altitude of the boiler.I is a steam dome or chest mounted on one side of the boiler,'andprovided with a safety escapepipe, c, fittedwith a fusible plug, f, atits inner end, with `a cock, g, between the plug and outer end of thepipe, so that in case of the steam reaching a dangerous pressure itsexcessive temperature will melt the plug and allow of the steam toescape, the cock g being open. The object of this cock is to shut oli'the escape after a sufficient quantity of steam has been discharged, todo away with the danger consequent on over-pressure, and so that acertain amount of steam may be retained to continue the running of thecar. Fusible-plug attachments, as ordinarily applied to boilers, have nosuch provision. The draught is an artiicial one, it being maintained byone, J, of two fans or other blowers,Jl J. These fans are arranged sideby side, and are driven by a small engine,'K, that derives its steamsupply from the boiler by a-pipe, h, or which may be started, whenth'ere is no steam in the boiler E, by connection with a stationaryboiler.

Power is communicated to the fans J J from the drivin g-shaft c' of theengine K by belt and pulleys k lm. The llast is conveyed from the fan Jto the ash-pit of the lire-box F by a pipe, n. The spent steam from theengine K, as well as the spent steam from a pair of propelling-engines,L L', is passed by pipes o o to the fan J where' it is mixed with fouror five times (more or less)` `of atmospheric air, and, thus mixed,forced by said fan through va pipe, p, which may be coiled orbent, to aperforated receiver, M N, composed of an inner and outer perforatedcase, with sponge or other suitable porous body O interposed betweensaid cases. Any

steam passing from this receiver will escape as an invisible vapor, ornearly so, instead of in a cloud or puffs, as spent steam usuallyescapes, the previous mixture of air with said steam aiding to effectthis result, and the distribution of the mixture by the receiver M N Ocompleting it. The products of combustion are passed oii' from thesmoke-box H by a pipe, l), which is coiled or of serpentineconstruction, as at P', to effect a partial condensation or cooling ofsaid products. This pipel passes to and within a feed-Water tank, Q,from which the boiler` E is supplied with water, said pipe giving outmost or all of the remaining heat derived from the products ofcombustion to the Water in the tank, thereby partially heating thefeed-water and further condensing or cooling said products, whichultimately are conveyed by the pipe P, through a perforated continuationof it, to a vessel or chamber, R,

y within the tank Q. This inner receptacle iS partially filled with milkof lime or other absorbent of the carbonic acid and carbonio oiride inthe products of combustion, any of which latter remaining pass off by asmall smokepipe, q, up the side of the car. By thus forcing the smokethrough a liquid a back pressure is obtained on the draught from thefurnace, which back pressure extends into the furnace and insuresperfect contact of the gases, thereby inducing better combustion. Thetank Q and inner receptacle R are provided with suitable inlets andoutlets for filling and emptying them when required. The pipe l? mayalso be provided with a branch, r, for starting or stimulating thedraught by connection with any outside or stationary draught device orflue, and the engine K either be supplied with steam from a stationaryboiler at starting, or be driven by temporary connection with astationary engine till sufficient steam is obtained in the boiler E tokeep said engine going. The feed-Water is supplied to the tank Q by anysuitable means, and drawn from the same to supply the boiler E by apumpor pumps Worked by theengine or engines of the car. A glass Water-gage,s, is fitted in the end of the boiler E for the purpose of ascertainingthe level at which the water stands. This gage is set inclinin g, inorder that the conductor or engineer may readily see from the platformof the car the level of the water in the gage. The propelling-engines LL' are connected by pitmen a a' with cranks b b on or in the axle c ofthe driving -Wheels C C. -This axle carries double or reversingeccentrics d d foreach engine, each pair of eccentrics being connectedwith an ordinary locomotive link-motion, e', for operating thevalve-shaftf of the engine,

and each link-motion being under the control ofthe engineer or conductorfrom either platform of the car by pulling on one or the other of tworods, g' g', according, to the direction in which the car is required tobe run. The connection of these rods g with the link-'motions e iseffected by bell cranks h fast to a rockshaft, i', and connected withthe links e by rods k, so that to start the car it is only necessary toapply a removable or interchangeable lever, lf, to either rod g to drawit out on the end of the car which is designed to be foremost. To stopthe car, said lever and rod to which it is fitted are adjusted half-wayback. This arrangement of the stopping and starting rods scarcely admitsof the possibility of mistake as regards controlling the movement of thecar.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the fan J with the escape pipe or pipes o of theengine or engines, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The exhaust-steam receiver or distributer, composed of perforatedchambers or vessels M N and an interposed porous material, O, sub;stantially as specified.

3. The combination of the air and exhaust'- steam fan J f with theexhaust-steam receiver or distributer M, N, and O, essentially asdescribed.

4. The combination of the perforated escapepipe P for the products ofcombustion with the receptacle R containing liquid for the absorption ofthe escaping gases, subtantially as specified.

5. The combination of the Water-tank Qwith the receptacle R andperforated escape-pipe P, when arranged in relation with each otheressentially as and for the purposes herein set forth'.

6. The combination of the propelling-engines L L', the fans JJ', and theboiler E carried by the truck B, and arranged in relation with thecar-body A substantially as specified.

7. The starting and reversing rods g g', in combination with thebell-cranks h h and linkmotions e e ofthe engines L L,When arranged inrelation with the platforms of the car substantially as specified.

HENRY F. KNAPP.

Witnesses FRED. HAYNES, R. E. RABEAU.

